Performers rendered evergreen melodies by Mohd. Rafi and Mukesh at a concert hosted by the Bay Area Youth Vaishnav Pariwar to support the construction of a temple, writes Pravin Desai.(Above): Talented exponents of the evergreen songs of golden voices of yesteryear’s Hindi cinema at “Kal Ki Yaadein,” a concert hosted by the Bay Area Youth Vaishnav Pariwar (l-r): The anchor, Anila Gohil (Lata and Asha), Daksha Gohil (Noorjahan), Dr. Kamlesh Awasthi (Mukesh), Bankim Pathak (Mohd. Rafi) and Niraj Pathak (Kishore Kumar). [Shashi Desai/DreamSnaps photo]
Over 450 Vaishnav Pariwar devotees as well as Hindi music lovers took a delightful walk down memory lane as noted singers Bankim Pathak and Dr. Kamlesh Awasthi recreated the voice of unforgettable Bollywood playback singers Mohammed Rafi and Mukesh at a musical concert, “Kal Ki Yaadein.”

Hosted Dec. 8 at the Chabot College Auditorium in Hayward, Calif., the concert was presented by the Bay Area Youth Vaishnav Pariwar to raise funds for Shrinathji Haveli, a proposed temple in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The concert began with an ode to Krishna, “Shrinathji maara ghatmaa birajtaa shrinathji.” Both Pathak and Awasthi presented all-time favorite songs of as early ’40s up to the ’70s with Daksha Gohil, Anila Gohil and Niraj Pathak.

Singer Bankim Pathak, himself handicapped, talked about his charity work for physically disabled people in Gujarat.

In 2004, Pathak launched his signature project under the Bankim Pathak Foundation at the Saraswati High School in Maninagar, Gujarat by giving a gift of tricycles for needy physically disabled persons. The idea of giving a tricycle is to encourage independence.

Pravin Desai is a freelance journalist and photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.